Ian Zavala, Brahma’s middle blocker and hitter, marked his kill with anger.
He was letting the Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs whose house they had come too.
There has been a known rivalry between the Brahmas and the Corsairs for many years now.
Though the men’s volleyball head coaches for the Brahmas and Corsairs are friends off the court, all friendships were put aside during last Wednesday night’s home game, where the Brahmas took the match in three sets 25-13, 25-18, and 25-21.
“We have to make sure that our guys know that we are marked men when we play against SMC,” Brahmas assistant coach Lance Walker said. “It’s important for them to come out prepared, be ready to battle.”
The plan was simple.
“We gotta make sure we pull them off the net, serve tough and get them out of system,” Brahmas setter Ray De Leon said.
The Corsairs had a slightly different approach.
“If we can pass their jump floats we have a shot,” John Mayer, their head coach, said.
With strong serves from Joel Pederson and Alex Jones, the Corsairs had an uphill battle.
De Leon opening serves in the second set gave the Brahmas an early lead and momentum.
It also did not help that the Brahmas offense was on fire.
Ian Zavala, Joel Pederson, and Jon Griffith all found holes in the Corsairs’ defense and made amazing kills.
“Get [Griffith] going a little bit and he will take over the game,” Brahmas head coach Eddie Stanislawski said. “He’s a threat to be reckoned with.”
The Brahmas, however, have no time to celebrate this win.
“We’ll celebrate after we win state,” Stanislawski said.
For the Brahmas latest statistics visit: http://cccmensvolleyball.com/index.html